Trends in THR Regulation – How the Future Looks Like
Opening Remarks – Chair: Ignatios Ikonomidis
Speakers:
- Louise Ross: England’s National “Swap to Stop” Programme
- Marewa Glover: New Zealand’s SmokeFree Ambition & How the Future Looks Like
In the opening session of the 7th THR Summit, world-class experts will provide an overview of the current global landscape of Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) and its outcomes.
Louise Ross, the Stop Smoking Service Manager for Leicester City Council, and a representative of the UK’s National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training (NCSCT), will present the UK’s success story. She will discuss the English Stop Smoking Services and the innovative “Swap to Stop” programme, which was the first of its kind to integrate vaping into a government-funded stop-smoking initiative. By recognizing that vapes are the most effective aid to quitting smoking, the programme provided free vapes to individuals who might never have sought help from a traditional Stop Smoking Service. Ross will explore how this approach works, the practical challenges it faces, and the legacy it aims to leave.
Marewa Glover, Director of the Centre of Research Excellence: Indigenous Sovereignty & Smoking, will share insights from countries that have implemented THR policies, offering compelling evidence that certain THR products effectively replace cigarettes, leading to a decline in smoking-related morbidity and mortality. The discussion will also cover countries that have taken a prohibitionist stance, demonstrating how such policies can hinder the reduction of smoking rates. Finally, the session will address the potential financial implications for governments, considering the short-term loss of tax revenue from declining cigarette consumption against the long-term benefits of reduced healthcare costs and improved public health outcomes.
Speakers
